Bread Machine:Basic Italian Bread

I always love cotton soft and moist Italian bread but to get a good Italian bread recipe is not easy. I "google" and search for Italian bread recipe and decided to try Emeril Lagasse Italian recipe after reading the positive reviews.The out come is not bad at all but the texture is still not as soft as cotton that I used to enjoy at my favourite Italian restaurant.I think the measurement for the salt is not really right.Maybe it's should be 1 teaspoon not table spoon as the recipe stated coz it's really salty.I didn't used the hand kneading method instead use bread machine to do the work..Actually it's quite simple and easy..just dump everything into the machine and there you go...

Recipe adapated from Emeril-lagasse basic-italian-bread-recipe

Ingredients :

2 cups water, lukewarm
1 3/4 ounces cake yeast (1/3 cup)
5 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon salt (1 tsp)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tbsp bread improver

For Brushing:
2 tablespoons or more sesame seeds
1 yolk+ 2 tbsp water for brushing

Yield 2 large loaf

Method:

1:Place all ingredients into BM pan in the order suggested by your bread machine cycle and process on the whole wheat bread cycle according to the manufacturer’s directions.
2:After kneading cycle finish,remove dough from BM pan. Roll the dough up tightly, sealing the seam well after each roll. The dough should be elongated and oval-shaped, with tapered and rounded (not pointed) ends.
3:Preheat the oven lined with a pizza stone(baking sheet ) to 425 degrees F. Alternately, an inverted baking sheet may be used in place of a pizza stone.

4:Allow the dough to proof, loosely covered with a damp towel, for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. Brush the dough with the egg yolk and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Using a razor blade or sharp knife, score 3 (1/4-inch deep) slashes across the top of the dough at a 45 degree angle.

5:Bake the dough for 45 minutes, or until a hollow thud is heard when the bread is whacked with the bowl of a wooden spoon. Allow the bread to cool slightly before serving.